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Preparation of Contiguous Bisaziridines for Regioselective Ring-Opening Reactions
Published on: July 28, 2022
Mechanisms of SN2 reactions: insights from a nearside/farside analysis
Carsten Hennig1, Stefan Schmatz
1Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Universität Göttingen, Tammannstr. 6, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany. sschmat@gwdg.de.
Abstract:
A nearside/farside analysis of differential cross sections has been performed for the complex-forming SN2 reaction Cl(-) + CH3Br → ClCH3 + Br(-). It is shown that for low rotational quantum numbers a direct "nearside" reaction mechanism plays an important role and leads to anisotropic differential cross sections. For high rotational quantum numbers, indirect mechanisms via a long-lived intermediate complex are prevalent (independent of a nearside/farside configuration), leading to isotropic cross sections. Quantum mechanical interference can be significant at specific energies or angles. Averaging over energies and angles reveals that the nearside/farside decomposition in a semiclassical interpretation can reasonably account for the analysis of the reaction mechanism.
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